Build Up Your Recruiters to Build Your Recruiting Business
Building up a team of strong recruiters is challenging, even when everyone is working in an on-site environment. The recent COVID-19 restrictions have forced many staffing firm owners to send their employees home to recruit remotely, adding an extra layer of complexity to investing in their employees and keeping them engaged and connected. Still, even in remote conditions, it is possible to build up and set up your recruiting team for success by leveraging a few simple tips:
Set Goals
The first step in developing high-performing remote recruiters is to establish performance goals, objectives, and benchmarks, just like you’d do with an on-site team. Building a foundation for success off site requires every recruiter to know exactly what’s expected across multiple factors, such as total candidates sourced, outbound contacts, interviews, submittals, and starts. Work with each recruiter on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis, so everyone understands individual and team goals.
Promote Consistent ATS Use
Leveraging your CRM or applicant tracking system capabilities is crucial when utilizing a remote recruiting staff to ensure that nothing (and no one) falls through the cracks. Consistent ATS use also helps with goal tracking and management, helping everyone understand specific performance metrics in real time. Not only is it important for your recruiters to know how to use the system and optimize its functionality, but it’s also vital for them to know where to go for help and to ask questions when they need it. Encouraging consistent use of the ATS or CRM can keep your team informed and eliminate the risk of tasks being overlooked.
Video Conferencing—the New Recruiting Normal
COVID-19 restrictions are slowly being lifted across the country. However, online client calls and interviews remain the new recruiting norm—a trend that’s likely to continue as businesses across the country adjust their on-site/remote work model. Video recruiting tools are a must to help minimize any potential performance gaps with your staffing team. It can also help connect everyone internally, both as a team and individually for one-on-one discussions about goals and metrics. Most importantly, equipping your remote recruiters with the right technology establishes your firm as an innovator within your vertical, building both candidate and client confidence that you have the resources needed to accelerate the hiring process.
Institute New Recruiting Best Practices
Leveraging cutting-edge technology is only the first step in setting up your remote recruiting team for success. Online recruiting and interviewing brings with it different considerations than in-office interactions. Simply sending the link to the call is not enough. New best practices should include as many details as possible on what to expect and how to prepare for the interview. Additionally, the interview invite should take the participants time zones into consideration. Finally, while your recruiting team may be working from home, professionalism is still essential. Your remote recruiters should always dress professionally, set up the call in a spot that has an appropriate background, and eliminate any potential distractions that could take attention away from the candidate.
Pricing Strategies
Effectively pricing out contracts and maintaining a firm focus on costs is critical for any staffing firm. However, providing remote recruiters with the right tools to easily develop pricing strategies can give them the information they need quickly, without having to delay the hiring process by continuously asking others on the team (aka you) how much profit should be built into every contract. An online pricing calculator can prove an invaluable tool for your remote team, particularly for junior recruiters who are still learning about all the financial factors that go into every placement. A comprehensive online calculator will automate multiple fields, such as payroll expenses, cash flow projections, and conversion fees to help take the guesswork out of an effective pricing strategy.
Back Office Support
Recruiting qualified candidates in a downturn market brings with it a unique set of potential difficulties. With so many people out of work right now, many recruiters are being flooded with applicants, making it tough to navigate through the masses and pinpoint the very best available candidates. As a result, many small- to mid-sized staffing firms are outsourcing their payroll, compliance, and back-office support needs to a third party Employer of Record (EOR). An EOR has the capabilities and resources needed to focus on all of the administrative, compliance, and tax requirements, freeing up your remote team to continue working through the influx of applicants most staffing firms are currently managing to hit designated goals and established hiring metrics.
Headcount’s online MarkUp Calculator can help set up your remote recruiting teams for success. Download this digital resource today!